The first 28 points detail the two seasons that the expansion teams exist outside of the OMLB. While Points 29-45 detail things that happen after the end of the 2026 season when the teams become part of the main OMLB.

1. We will be creating a separate two team expansion league after the end of the 2024 season in the file that is a major league with affiliates. This major league will have an identical reputation, player creation modifiers, financial parameters, and rules settings both in the majors and minors as the main OMLB. It will be completely separate in the game.

2. The only relationship to the OMLB is that it will share a draft pool, can sign from the same pool of free agents, and the teams may trade with OMLB teams.

3. I will be updating all OMLB affiliates to their eventual destination, but not realigning until 2027 at the end of 2024, if we can agree on what the minors should look like.

4. This separate league will get its draft pool players from our MLB draft pool. StatsPlus will allow for the expansion teams to pick using the association tool designed for promotion/ relegation leagues, that way their players are off the board when OMLB teams pick and vice versa. We cannot emulate the supplemental picks the expansion teams received in 1993 and 1998 so the will only pick in the regular main rounds. During the 2025, 2026, & 2027 drafts they will pick last in every actual round. In 2027, they will be able to have supplemental picks. We will be adding more players to the pool to accommodate for the new quantity of teams each year.

5. A roll of polyhedral dice will determine the which expansion team has the higher draft pick in Round One for 2025. However, 2026 and 2027 will see the champion of the separate league get the higher pick in the first round. Subsequent rounds will alternate. The loser of the roll of the die for 2025 will get the first pick in the expansion draft.

6. The expansion fees will be pocketed by the owners so you will not get that in your finances.

7. In the, “Separate Expansion League,” finances will be constrained. Here are the financial rules for the separate expansion league:

• $100M Budget firm and a hard cap at the same number.
• Media Revenue will fall under the same rules normal OMLB teams. It must be at least 75% of the highest media revenue.
• Development must be maxed out by the expansion teams at 30 million.
• Scouting must be maxed out for the expansion teams at $10m.
• Expansion teams must also set $10M for draftee bonuses.
• Expansion teams must be set $10M for IFA bonuses.
• This leaves $40M for players and staff.
• NONE would carry over to the OMLB. Use it or lose it.
• Any major-league contracts are honored when the players are moved to the official MLB organization,
• MLB SERVICE TIME FROM THE SEPARATE EXPANSION LEAGUE WILL NOT CARRY OVER. All service time from the separate league will be converted to minor league OMLB service time.

8. The two expansion GMs have full use of any Achievement Points they bring with them.

9. The two expansion teams can name and locate their minor-league teams as they choose allowing for competitive spacing.

10. The two expansion teams will be allotted the basic park under the Achievement point rewards. Which is a 35,000-seat retractable roof grass stadium. Roof subsidized by MLB per league rules. They may add 100 seats for every 25 Achievement points used. They may change the surface for 50 Achievement points.

11. Gambo’s Stadium Chart v2013 will be used to determine park factors. Weather will be taken into account for park factors. Las Vegas will get the listed Las Vegas, NV weather, and New Jersey getting the listed NJ, NJ weather.

12. The expansion teams may trade 50 Achievement Points for 1 Fan Interest Point. They can only go as high as 80 in Fan Interest via this method.

13. The Market Size for BOTH Expansion Teams will be 6.

14. The Fan Interest for BOTH Expansion Teams will be set to 65 to start with a +5 Modifier.

15. The Fan Loyalty for New Jersey will be 8.

16. The Fan Loyalty for Las Vegas will be 7.

17. During the two separate Expansion Seasons the Stats settings for Players will be set to “Keep All.” This will enable everyone involved to have as much information as possible entering the expansion draft. This will give expansion teams more to do frankly since they are playing one team all season. After the expansion draft the setting will be changed back to “Major League Only” unless we find that the file size impact was not so great.

18. The expansion teams can’t sign MLB (Note MLB) free agents that are age 26-34 during the two seasons before they start play. After the 2026 season, they can do whatever an OMLB team can. They can trade for or claim MLB players of any age.

19. International free agents of MLB quality can’t be signed by the expansion teams between the ages of 26-34 for the 2025 SEASON ONLY. After that first season, they have free reign over International Free Agents. This is basically a restriction on players from Japan, Cuba, and Australia.

20. Expansion teams will have access to sign any International Amateur Free Agent immediately as do all Leagues in the file.

21. They can sign any minor league free agent to any type of contract they want, if the contract is within our league rules.

22. Players one year removed from the MLB even if their last club was an MLB club carry no restriction for expansion teams.

23. Expansion teams will have Rk and Short Season-A affiliates for 2025. A and A+ will be added for 2026, and when the club debuts in 2027 they will get a AA & AAA team too. They will also have a Winter League in their separate league, and of course upon joining the OMLB.

24. The separate Expansion League will play 162 games. In all 26 of the weeks in the season it will feature a full slate of home games for one of the two teams. In 20 of the weeks there will be 6 games. In 6 of the weeks there will be 7 games. Home field alternates. This gives both teams 81 Home games.

25. When Las Vegas has home field for a sim the league will have the DH on, but when New Jersey is the Home Team the DH will be off. Only at the Major-League Level.

26. For simplicity, and to give the Expansion GMs more control over the minors since they only have one continuous opponent. Their minors will have the identically mirrored schedule of their major-league team.

27. The separate league’s majors, minors, and winter leagues will not have an All-Star game played but instead just 1 All Star Team named.

28. The expansion teams in the separate league will play a practice schedule just between each other with no playoffs. The team with the better record takes the title. The reward is the higher pick in Round 1 of the next draft though subsequent rounds will alternate. I will also schedule exhibitions with foreign teams during their offseason. The expansion teams will also play exhibitions against MLB clubs during spring training.

29. The expansion teams join the main OMLB via the in-game expansion tool after the 2026 season.

30. The players, coaches, and scouts from the separate league are moved to the expansion teams and their service time is changed. Contracts remain the same.

31. Expansion team financials, market sizes, fan interest, and fan loyalty will be set BEFORE the expansion draft immediately upon the creation of the expansion teams via in game expansion tool.

32. The budgets for the expansion teams once they’ve joined the main OMLB will be whatever is randomly generated by the AI when the expansion teams are created in the MLB after the 2026 season. This way it’s completely random and no one can say a rule screwed them.

33. Media Revenue will fall under the same rules normal OMLB teams. It must be at least 75% of the highest media revenue.

34. The Market Size for BOTH Expansion Teams will be 6.

35. The Fan Interest for BOTH Expansion Teams will be set to 65 to start with a +5 Modifier.

36. The Fan Loyalty for New Jersey will be 8.

37. The Fan Loyalty for Las Vegas will be 7.

38. The Las Vegas expansion team will be created as the Las Vegas Rat Pack because the game accurately chooses Las Vegas, Nevada for the expansion city.

39. The New Jersey expansion team will be created as the East Rutherford Pioneers, and after City name wise changed to New Jersey. This is because it is the only way the game recognizes the intended city as East Rutherford, New Jersey.

40. The expansion draft will be held the moment Free Agents declare after the 2026 season. There will be 35 selections over essentially 2 and 1/6 rounds. Teams will get a flat 20-man protection list. Players with less than 3 years of service time are automatically protected. Teams cannot lose more than three players from their unprotected list.

41. Expansion teams cannot trade expansion picks, but can trade players chosen and make any deals with any OMLB team within rules during or after the expansion draft.

42. Realignment after expansion will be as follows, and take place when the expansion tool has been executed:

American League

American League East
Baltimore
Boston
Chicago
Cleveland
Detroit
New York
Tampa Bay
Toronto

National League East
Chicago
Milwaukee
New York
Philadelphia
Pittsburgh
St. Louis
Washington
New Jersey Pioneers

National League West
Atlanta
Arizona
Cincinnati
Colorado
Los Angeles
Miami
San Diego
San Francisco

43. The Playoff Format after expansion & realignment will be as follows:

• In each sub league, we advance two division champions who get a bye and both 2nd place teams, then the next two best records overall are wild cards. Seeds for the wild cards are the lowest. We distinguish between each type of participant by record.
• 1st place teams are seeded 1/2, 2nd place teams are seeded 3/4, and wild card teams are seeded 5/6. Reseed after each round.
• Disable start date staggering. Enable fixed series start dates.
• Wild Card Series: Best-of-3, better seed hosts all games. If both teams participating in a series finished with the same record after 162 games, manually flip home field for Game 1 in that series so that it's a 1-2 format.
• Division Series: Best-of-5, 2-2-1 format.
• League Championship Series: Best-of-7, 2-3-2 format.
• World Series: Best-of-7, 2-3-2 format, hosted by the team with the better regular-season record.